Man gets 32 years for fatal strangling in Pueblo

Colorado man who strangled another man to death has been sentenced to 32 years in prison.

The Pueblo Chieftain reports 39-year-old Michael Mills was sentenced Friday for the December death of 63-year-old Sammy Martinez. Mills struck a deal with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.

Police were called to a Pueblo apartment complex on Christmas Eve and found Martinez dead, and investigators used surveillance images and a fingerprint found at the scene to tie Mills to the slaying.

An autopsy determined that Martinez had been strangled and suffered head trauma.

Mills apologized in court and said, “not a single day will pass in my life I don’t regret what I did.”